Where Did The Time Go? Spike Lee’s ‘School Daze’ Turns 28 Today

The classic Black film that is School Daze celebrates its 28th anniversary today.

Released in 1988, the film was a musical comedy written and directed by Spike Lee, who also starred as the naive “Half Pint” pledge. Following the pledge and his brothers throwing pledging activities, the story touches on the secret life of Black Greeks, and also touches on issues of real and perceived racism.

The film’s stars also included now Hollywood royalty Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito and Tisha Campbell-Martin, plus Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy and Darryl M. Bell, who went on to star in A Different World.

Lee says the film was based in part on his experiences at Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.

Among the topics of racism and classism among Blacks, Lee also used the film to discuss social activism on the behalf of African Americans, set against a campus being divided about how much administration should be involved in divesting due to South Africa’s then-current apartheid crisis.

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About The Author

Samantha Callender is a multimedia journalist whose work ranges from entertainment journalism to pieces highlighting social issues in multicultural communities. Samantha strives to find intersects between entertainment and social matters, believing that pop culture has the power to not only entertain the masses, but to educate them as well. Her goal when storytelling is to write pieces that serve as a catalyst to prompt dialogue and activism. Her work has been featured in VIBE, JET, Cosmopolitan, and many other publications.